


October

by FNW2



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Murder, Gang Violence, Gangs, Murder, Other, Police, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 16:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FNW2/pseuds/FNW2
Summary: Alfred helps Batman bring a gang to justice





	October

Alfred strolled out of the grocery store. He carried six bags, four of them hanged off his arms, and two were held in his hands. Despite the immense weight, he had no issue bringing them to his car. He gently placed them down, popped the trunk, and placed the groceries inside, humming to himself all the while.

Alfred didn’t know why he even bothered to buy groceries, food in the Wayne Mansion was always destined to go stale. Bruce usually just ordered cheap take out, as it saved the time of making a dinner, and wouldn’t put a dent in his huge finances.

”Still, not shopping would seem rather suspicious,” Alfred mused to himself as he got in the car. Pulling out of the parking lot, he began the long drive back to Wayne Manor.

It was night, and Bruce was, no doubt, “working”. Still, it seemed like it would be a quiet day for the caped crusader, as Alfred noticed the relative peace as he drove down the seemingly barren city streets.

Well, that was until a man came stumbling out from an nearby alleyway. Alfred widened his eyes and slammed down on the breaks. The car came to a screeching halt just inches from the man.

Alfred let out a sigh of relief when he saw he didn’t hit him. The man was raggedy, clearly homeless, and he looked paralyzed in fear.

”Sir?” Alfred got out of the car. “Are you alright?”

The homeless man shook his head, regaining his senses. “You have to help me!”

”What’s wrong?” Alfred asked.

”This crazy bitch is after me!” The man cried. “She wants to kill me!”

”What? Why?” Alfred asked.

That’s when a nail came flying out of the darkness of the alleyway, and embedded itself into the man’s kneecap. He let out a blister scream of pain before falling to the ground.

”My god!” Alfred pulled out his phone, only for a nail to shoot it out of his hand.

”I’m not going to let you do that, Jeeves.” A woman walked out from shadows of the alleyway.

”Who are you?” Alfred demanded. “And what do you want with this man?!”

The woman was dressed in a black leather jacket, a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and black converse. She was young, looked no older than 24. He aimed the nail gun at Alfred’s head, a smug grin plastered on her face.

”You’re in no position to be asking questions, Jeeves,” The woman mocked. “Ain’t that right, guys?”

Soon, a group of about twelve men came out of the shadows of the alley. They laughed, as if she had told them a silly joke.

”Say, ain’t that Wayne’s butler?” One of them asked.

”Oh shit!” The woman lowered her gun and squinted at Alfred. “It is! Good eye!” The woman re-aimed the nail gun at Alfred’s head. “I wonder how Wayne will feel after losing his faithful butler.”

”I wouldn’t want to know,” Alfred joked.

”Well, then let’s find out!” The woman exclaimed, a big, tooth-filled grin appearing on her face.

That’s when they heard a small tapping noise. One of the woman’s thugs looked down, and only had enough time to widen his eyes before the smoke ball went off.

The woman coughed. “Ah! What the hell?!”

”Is it...?” The homeless man cut himself off when he saw a large, capes figure jump into the smoke.

Alfred smiled. “It is.”

”It’s the bat!” A thug cried. “It’s the fu-“ that’s when a gloved hand came flying through the smoke, and connected hard to his right cheek. The last thing he felt was his teeth shattering before unconsciousness took him.

As the smoke cleared, Batman stood in the center of the ring of thugs. The woman’s previous smugness had dissipated along with the smoke, and she looked at him with nothing but pure fear.

It was deathly quiet for an extremely long time.

”So...” Batman finally spoke, causing all of the thugs to jump. “...who’s next?”

”Tyler!” The woman shouted.

Reluctantly, the largest member of the group charged at Batman.

Batman hummed. “Good choice.”

Thug tried to grab him into a bear hug, but Batman ducked, and dove between his legs. As Tyler turned to face him, Bruce greeted hims with a painful shot to the eyes.

”Let’s get out of here!” The woman turned to the rest of her men while Batman was distracted.

”But what about Tyler?” One of them asked.

”If he makes it back to HQ he’ll get a free lap dance from me, let’s go!” The woman ran back into the alley, her men reluctantly following.

Tyler held onto his face, crying out in pain as Batman coldly watched on. When he recovered, Batman simply made the “come at me” hand gesture, and an enraged Tyler was more than happy to fall for it. Making the same mistake twice, he once again tried to grab Batman into a bear hug, but the caped crusader simply repeated his motion of diving between his legs. This time, however, before Tyler could turn around, Batman delivered a quick kick to his nether regions with his steel toed boot.

”Ah!” Tyler let out a high pitched, girly scream before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he passed out form the pain.

Triumphant, Batman looked towards Alfred and the Homeless man, his gaze softening. “Are you alright?”

”I’m quite alright,” Alfred assured, stepping to the side. “It’s him you want to check on.”

Batman walked over to the homeless man and inspected his knee. “Do you want the truth?”

The homeless man sighed. “Yes.”

”You won’t be able to walk with this leg without a limp,” Batman said, bluntly.

”Like I can afford to help with that,” The homeless man bitterly joked.

Batman knelt down and looked the man in his eyes. “Do you know why those people attacked you?”

”I don’t,” The homeless man answered. “The woman seemed to be having a blast harassing me.”

That’s when the sound of sirens filled the air, and the cops came turning down the street corner.

“Who called the police?” The homeless man wondered.

”I did.” Batman got to his feet. “You two have a safe night.”

Batman grappled away just as the cops pulled in. As he ran across the roof, he checked to see if The woman and her gang were anywhere to be seen. When his eyes fell on nothing, he narrowed them in frustration.

* * *

Alfred walked into the batcave, carrying a box of pizza. Bruce was typing away at the computer, looking at some macabre murders with his usual stoic coldness. His mask was off, and was placed on the floor next to his seat.

”You know, sir,” Alfred piped up, setting the pizza box on a table next to the batconputer. “If you’re just going to order take out, I don’t know why you have me go shopping.”

”The public would find it weird that Bruce Wayne doesn’t have his butler buy food.” Bruce didn’t even look at him. “After all, not like grocery shopping is going to effect my income.”

”True, but still,” Alfred said. “You can’t just keep eating delivered fast food.”

”I’ll have you order a salad next time,” Bruce snarked.

Alfred rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

”I know,” Bruce said.

Alfred looked up to the computer to see the horrific images in full detail. Dozens of victims, all killed with, what looked like, power tools. One man had his eyes and mouth stapled shut, a woman was cut to pieces, probably with a buzzsaw, and the most noticeable, a man was shot to death with a nail gun.

”I take it these are some of that dreadful woman’s old victims?” Alfred asked, knowingly.

”Her name is Jenna Duffy.” Bruce tapped a button on the computer to bring up an image of the young woman. “She used to be a member of Hatter’s wonderland gang along with Dum and Dee.”

”I remember that case, back when the criminals you faced had more sillier gimmicks,” Alfre said, chuckling.

”Not that anything about the Wonderland gang was silly,” Bruce reminded. “Duffy here was Hatter’s personal feeder, she’d bring him his...Alices.”

”I see.” Alfred frowned.

”She also built the old Wonderland gang’s hideout, which is why he named her the carpenter,” Bruce continued.

”Well, she’s not using her tools for cleaning anymore,” Alfre snarked.

”Clearly.” Bruce brought the images of the murders back up. “Seems Mrs. Duffy has take up serial killing. Since the gang broke up after Dee and Dum’s deaths, every Halloween for the past five years she’s been...well...doing this.”

”Why?”

”Who knows?” Bruce closed the images, and rose to his feet. “Who cares? What matters is she needs to be stopped before she can kill anymore people.”

”Have you gathered a profile?” Alfred asked.

”Yes, and I established a pattern,” Bruce said. “She kills six homeless men and six prostitutes over the course of October, then disappears after Halloween.”

”How has she been doing this for five years?” Alfred asked.

”You think the GCPD care about the homeless and prostitutes?” Bruce asked, bitterly. “Most of the murders were swept under rug. Gordon and I have been trying to get them to actually care, but year-after-year they still completely forgot to inform us.”

”That’s horrible!” Alfred didn’t hide his disgust.

”It’s Gotham, horrible is to be expected,” Bruce said. “My problem is, how are we going to catch her before she can act again? Even I can’t keep an eye on every homeless man and prostitute in the city.”

”Well, I have a feeling she may want another go at Bruce Wayne’s butler,” Alfred said.

”Are you volunteering to be bait?” Bruce asked. “That’s a big risk, Alfred.”

”Sir, you are the last person in the entire world to complain about risks.”

Bruce let out an uncharacteristic chuckle, and smiled for the first time. “Touché.”

* * *

Alfred was, once again, driving down the still rather quiet Gotham streets.

”I guess no one wants to be out after dark,” Alfred said to himself. “Master Bruce must be doing a good job. Well, other than the gang running around murdering the...less well off.”

”Alfred, you know I can hear everything your saying, right?” Bruce asked from the earpiece Alfred had in his right ear.

”Oh, I am aware, master Bruce,” Alfred deadpanned.

Bruce let out a frustrated sigh. “A mugging is in process, I’ll deal with it and get back to you.”

”I’ll try not to die in the mean time, sir,” Alfred joked. “I do hope the mugger won’t be too much for you.”

Bruce let out a gruff, and cut their communication. Just seconds after that happened, Alfred heard a loud bang, and his car suddenly turned to the left. The left tire had been popped. Alfred tired to steady buy instinctively turning to the right, but this only caused the car to flip and tumble down the street, stopping dead after striking a pole.

Alfred day there for several seconds, resting his head on the airbag until he got his bearings. Letting out a groan, he gripped his throbbing head.

”I’m glad I was wearing my seatbelt.” Alfred got out of the car, and inspected the popped tire. “Of course.” Alfred leaned down and pulled a nail from the tire. That’s when he heard the sound of several feet on gravel walking towards him. “I know you’re there Miss Duffy.” Alfred turned to face Jenna and her gang, who all froze. “You all are about as loud as Master Bruce when he was a toddler.”

Jenna scoffed. “Real cute, Jeeves.”

”Alfred Pennyworth.”

”Pardon?”

”My name is Alfred Pennyworth, not Jeeeves,” Alfred said with a stern tone, like a parent with a misbehaving child. “You will refer to me as my real name.”

Jenna seemed speechless that someone actually talked back to her. After a few minutes of silence, Jenna burst out laughing, and the other members of her gang joined in.

”You got balls, Jeeves.” Jenna pulled out her nail gun, and aimed it at Alfred’s groin. “How about I take those first!”

Thankfully, before she could fire, a batarang flew down from the roof tops, and knocked it from her hands.

”Crap!” Jenna yelped out in pain, gripping her hand.

Batman jumped down, face and body encased in shadow. His eyes glowed white from the detective vision form his cowl, but the thugs didn’t know that. They just saw the white eyes of an inhuman beast.

”You won’t be taking anything.” Batman stood up straight, towering over Jenna and her thugs.

”I wish Tyler was here.”

”Shut it!” Jenna hissed. “Kill him!”

”You sure you want to try that?” Was All Batman asked to make them stop in their tracks.

”I said kill him!” Jenna barked.

”Yeah, come on,” Batman snarked. “Come and get me. I’ve fought alongside the Justice League, defeated countless world ending threats, but I’m most certain a bunch of low level punks like yourselves will be the one to do me in.”

”You know what?” One of the thugs pulled out a glass bottle, and shattered it against the sidewalk. “I can be the one to do this!”

He charged at Batman, who greeted him with a dodge and a quick backhand to the face, breaking his nose. That’s when the rest of the group charged...except Jenna, she was backing away. Batman noticed this, and was able to toss a tracker onto her back as she turned and ran off, no one noticing.

”You can’t take on all of us, bat!” One of the thugs shouted as the group surrounded Batman.

”Yeah, even you can be outnumbered!”

”That’s where you’re right,” Batman admitted. He quickly pulled out a smoke bomb and slammed it to the ground, causing a large cloud to form around him and the thugs. “That’s why I fight dirty.” He activated detective vision, and cracked his neck before charging the first thug that was closest to him.

As the thugs were being beaten to a pulp inside the cloud of smoke, Alfred watched from the comfort of his car. He had packed a thermos full of tea just so he could watch the show with something to drink. He took a sip just as a thug came out of the dust, running like a scared child. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t looking where he was going, and ended up running headfirst into Alfred’s car.

Seconds after it started, the smoke cleared, and Batman was surrounded by a pile of unconscious bodies.

”Excellent work,” Alfred complimented. That’s when he heard sirens. “Call the police again?”

”Always,” Batman aimed his grapple just as the Batwing flew by.

”Wait! Where are you going?” Alfred asked.

”Still have one last thing to take care of,” Batman answered from the earpiece.

* * *

Jenna ran into her HQ, and slammed the door shut behind her.

”Shit...is he coming?” Jenna asked herself in a panicked tone. “Would he even know where this place is?! He didn’t know that last time, so he wouldn’t...” Jenna trailed off when she heard a beeping at the back of her jacket. She ripped it off and got a good look at the tracking device. “Shit.”

* * *

“The old Laffy taffy factory.” Batman flew the Batwing over the warehouse. “I thought the criminals of Gotham knew better than to go into Joker territory.”

Hovering the Batwing over a broken skylight, Batman jumped down into the old factory. Suddenly, a bright light flashed on, momentarily blinding him.

”Hello Bat!” Jenna greeted from the glass office above the product line.

Batman threw a batarang in her direction, but it just harmlessly bounced off of the glass.

”Sorry, this office is bulletproof!” Jenna mocked. “You’ll need something a lot stronger than that! Too bad you’ll be dead before you have a chance to use it!”

That’s when all of the lights in the factory turned on, and Batman was greeted by the corpse of a dead police officer. He had been wrapped in barbed wire.

”What...?” Batman was shocked.

”Poor old Officer Lake went snooping around a place he really shouldn’t have,” Jenna said, mocking sympathy. “He’s my puppet now!”

That’s when a robot arm that was tied to Lake’s arm sprang to life. It’s clap was tied to the trigger, so every time it opened or closed, it shot. Batman was able to dodge, and shut down the arm with a quick toss of a batarang.

”You think that’s all I have?” Jenna laughed. “I’m a builder, bat, they didn’t call me the carpenter for nothing! Get’em!”

”H-hello!” A large animatronic appeared behind Batman from the shadows. It was a cartoon boy carrying a toy airplane. “C-c-can I b-b-be you’re f-friend?”

Batman dodges just as the toy airplane was brought down onto him like a mallet. He threw a few batarangs at its head, but it did nothing.

”H-hey!” The robot shouted. “Th-Th-Th-That’s not very nice!”

Batman tossed another batarang at it, but the animatronic caught it this time.

”Do you ever learn from your mistakes?” Jenna mocked.

Batman just turned to look at her. “Yes.”

The animatronic looked at the batarang in its hands just as the red, blinking light made itself known. “Oh, p-p-poop,” was the last thing the boy said before the batarang blew it to smithereens.

”Shit!” Jenna cried when her creation went up in smoke. “It...it doesn’t matter! You still won’t be able to get in here!”

Batman just looked at her with an emotionless expression. “Last chance, Duffy,” he warned. “You come out now, I won’t have to really hurt you.”

Jenna seemed to genuinely consider it, before her pride got the better of her.

”No!” Jenna shook her head. “You can’t get to m-“ Jenna was cut off when Batman shot a gel onto to glass. “That’s it? You think shaving cream is going to get you in here?”

”It’s not shaving cream.” Batman held up the trigger. “It’s explosive gel.”

Jenna backed away from the window, but it was too late. Batman was right about one thing, that glass cutting up her face _really_ hurt.

* * *

“So, you finally caught her?” Gordon watched as Jenna was placed into the ambulance on a stretcher. “Good.”

”Yes,” Batman agreed, “now the homeless men and the...working women...of Gotham can walk the streets a little safer this October.”

”I’m going to be sending some of men in,” Gordon said. “See if she has anyone more dead cops in there.”

”I disabled the traps, your men can go in,” Batman assured.

”Thanks.” Gordon nodded, then he turning too two officers and motioning them towards the building. “So, what do you-“ Gordon turned to see Batman was gone. He sighed. “Of course.”


End file.
